Nehru’s
seat caught in caste politicsPHULPUR:When there was no dynasty,
there was Jawaharlal Nehru. And Phulpur was not just another
parliamentary constituency. It had the distinction of returning
India’s first Prime Minister to the Lok Sabha. Today it finds itself
caught in a vicious web of caste politics.

No poll
din in remote Kandi villagesKot Patial (Hoshiarpur),
April 26Residents of this sleepy hamlet on
the Himachal Pradesh border are anxiously awaiting the arrival of
campaigners. Kot Patial, the last village of the Kandi area in Punjab,
is an hour’s drive through dense jungles of khair and pine. En route,
one has to negotiate five seasonal rivulets and steep sandy embankments
that are a driver’s nightmare.

First-time voter Esha Deol show her marked finger as her mother and Rajya Sabha member Hema Malini looks on at a polling station in Mumbai on Monday. — PTI

Electoral
transformation in RodeRode (Moga), April 26From hostility to despondency,
boycott to active participation in the democratic process of the
country. This is the transformation seen over the years in this native
village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, termed as saint by his followers
and a militant in government records.

Dharmendra
is a Jat, assert villagersDango (Ludhiana), April 26Residents of this native village of
cine star-turned politician Dharmendra on the Ludhiana-Pakhowal road are
anguished over the attacks on his personal life by rivals in the Bikaner
parliamentary elections from where he is contesting on the BJP ticket.

Local
issues take a back seat in SangrurSangrur, April 26Development, corruption,
unemployment and the “feel good” factor are major issues that are
dominating the election campaigns of main political parties in the
Sangrur parliamentary constituency.

Will BJP
dark horse upset carts?HISAR: The
last-minute entry of the BJP nominee Raghvanand into the fray has made
the fight for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat tougher. The BJP had originally
nominated Mr Jaibeer Godara for the seat, but he had to be replaced on
the last day of filing nomination papers when it was discovered that his
name did not figure in the electoral rolls.

Bhiwani
electorate wants changeBhiwani, April 26People in this constituency want to
teach the ruling party a lesson owing to the anti-incumbency factor.
They have no particular complaint against the INLD and, in fact, admit
that the INLD Government has done good work such as making concrete
roads in villages, constructing school buildings and the like.

The worth
of Kurukshetra LS seat nomineesKurukshetra, April 26Mr Naveen Jindal of the Congress is
far ahead of his rivals in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency as far
as assets are concerned. His worth is over Rs 9 crore. Still he does not
own a vehicle. Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, younger son of the Chief
Minister and the Indian National Lok Dal candidate, is worth over 5
crore.

Factors
at PlayPeace with Pak
means a lot hereDera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), April
26Thanks to his peace initiative with
Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seems to be enjoying
goodwill among the people living in border areas. For the people living
in the interiors and urban areas, Indo-Pak peace may be more of academic
interest, but for the border people, it is the issue of life and death,
literally.

Factors
at PlayWater is a
crucial issueHanumangarh, April 26Battle-lines are drawn between the
outgoing Member of Parliament and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Mr
Nihal Chand Meghwal, and the Congress candidate, Master Bharat Ram
Meghwal, in Sriganganagar.

Campaign
at low key in KuluKulu, April 26Even though the day of voting is
drawing nearer, residents of this district are not enthusiastic
campaigning by both main parties — the Congress and the BJP — is at
a very low note. The war of posters, banners and flags, which used to be
the highlight during every election in the Kulu and Banjar Assembly
segments of the Mandi parliamentary constituency is yet to take off.

PHULPUR: When there was no dynasty, there was Jawaharlal Nehru. And Phulpur was not just another parliamentary constituency. It had the distinction of returning India’s first Prime Minister to the Lok Sabha. Today it finds itself caught in a vicious web of caste politics.

Nehru garnered support from all sections. Today the voting pattern is determined by caste equations: the Yadavs back the Samajwadi Party; the Brahmins support the Bharatiya Janata Party; and the Dalits go along with the Bahujan Samaj Party. And the Muslims? They go everywhere.

We stopped at a flour mill in Phulpur looking for the oldest voter in the constituency; someone who could tell us about the difference in campaigning then and now. The mill owner smiled and said “who to merey pitaji hain”. His father, Bhavani Deen, (80) was too happy to share with us the memories of the period when “voters were taken to the polling booths on ekka yaa ghora. Ab to apni sawari aap dhoondhni parti hai. Is dhoop mein paidal kaun jaye?”

We were then guided to the modest school-cum-residence of Pandit Krishna Chandra Vaidya. Nehru used to stay with him during his visit to Phulpur. Vaidyaji. as he is known in the small nondescript town, was given a tamra patra for participating in the Quit India Movement. There was no need to ask him for his views on the present trend of mixing religion with politics. Who would put such a question to a man who runs a school that is called Ram Rahim Shiksha Sansthan?

Of course, he was unhappy with present political trends. “Yeh India shining bus paanch saal mein ho gaya?” he said with a rare touch of irritation in his voice. He had written a letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi on how to revive the Congress. He did not receive a reply from 10 Janpath.

In Allahabad we met Syed Jaffar Raza, who was Nehru’s polling agent in 1962. He did not know why Panditji chose to contest from Phulpur and not Allahabad. He made an informed guess. The Allahabad parliamentary constituency is unwieldy while Phulpur is very compact.

Bhavani Deen, the father of the flour mill owner, remembered Mr Saligram Jaiswal as the candidate who used to contest against Pandit Nehru. Vaidyaji mention the name of Prabhudutt Brahmachari. He was more into singing bhajans, and used to contest just for the fun of it. Syed Jaffar Raza, a senior advocate, mentioned the name of Indu Dev, a brief-less lawyer. “No one had any idea where he got the money from for contesting the election. The secret was revealed years later when he was caught in a case of dacoity!”

Since 1980, mostly candidates from the Patel sub caste (not to be confused with the Patels of Gujarat) have won from here. The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have fielded Patel candidates. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Mr Ateeq Ahmed, a sitting MLA from a constituency in Allahabad. Like most Samajwadi candidates, he too has a history of using muscle and money power for winning elections and influencing voters.

A large section of the Phulpur electorate is willing to return to the Congress provided Mrs Sonia Gandhi gives it the same importance that has been given to Amethi and Rae Bareli. Bhavani Deen’s son suggested the name of Mrs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a possible candidate for reclaiming the country’s lost political Atlantis.

Kot Patial (Hoshiarpur), April 26
Residents of this sleepy hamlet on the Himachal Pradesh border are anxiously awaiting the arrival of campaigners. Kot Patial, the last village of the Kandi area in Punjab, is an hour’s drive through dense jungles of khair and pine. En route, one has to negotiate five seasonal rivulets and steep sandy embankments that are a driver’s nightmare. But then the drive through several villages also brings out another facet of the election: the absence of banners and posters in the countryside are an indication that no one has bothered to woo the villagers and that the campaigners have confined their electioneering to the main cities and towns of the constituency so far.

Kot Patial is a picture of neglect by successive governments. Women could be seen awaiting their turn to draw water from the three wells. They spend most of their day collecting water for household chores and drinking. This is because floods washed the village water works away in 1987. And yes, the candidate who promises new water works for them is welcome to their votes.

Sarpanch Sukhraj Sharma says that they have been pleading with the government and the elected representatives to get the needful done, but to no avail. They sent several panchayat resolutions demanding the sinking of deep-bore wells in the village under a scheme by the Central Water Board Commission, but have yet to receive a concrete reply.

The same is true for the school where several posts of teacher are lying vacant for the past many years.

The hearths of most of the families are kept burning from the remittances from residents in the Army. Agriculture is dependent on rainwater and a good crop has been eluding them for two years now.The villagers, however, claimed that Charanjit Singh Channi was the lone MP who had visited the village since Independence to hear their woes.

At Mustapur, some old men are sitting at the village chaupal and discussing the election scene. The oldest among them, Bhim Sen, is initially reluctant to spell out their choice but after a bit of coaxing admits that they are finding it tough to decide to whom to vote for. He says this belt was pro-Congress yet the absence of the party candidate is making their decision harder. They do not want to vote for the CPM candidate since he does not have a winning chance.

Another resident, Dilawar Singh, points out that the Congress has erred in failing to renominate Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, who had done good work during his tenure.

The BJP too has its task cut out and the Vajpayee factor will reap them rich dividends, he opined.

At Kapahat village, Dev Raj is also of the same view but says that the other parties have yet to campaign in this area. They have a lot of problems that have not been redressed even after 57 years of Independence. Lack of development, unavailability of drinking water and non-existent roads add to the misery of residents in these remote villages.

He pointed out that there are no doctors and the teachers in the village school are not reporting for duty on a regular basis. Most of the people are poor and cannot afford to send their wards to the city schools.

Ironically, Mr Satish Ohri, a social activist, says that Hoshiarpur is known for its literacy rate. The district has the proud distinction of returning three CMs — Ram Kishen, Darbara Singh and Giani Zail Singh — and the country’s first Defence Minister Baldev Singh, but they too forgot about their promises once elected.

Another main demand is that of a railway link between Hoshiarpur-Tanda and Hoshiarpur-Phagwara. This would help in the promotion of trade in the region.

Rode (Moga), April 26
From hostility to despondency, boycott to active participation in the democratic process of the country. This is the transformation seen over the years in this native village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, termed as saint by his followers and a militant in government records.

Even though posters calling for a boycott to the elections have again been pasted by some radical organisations in the village, there are very few persons willing to toe the line. The village, which was once gripped by the ideology of Bhindranwale has witnessed winds of change.

Posters have been pasted all over the village jointly by the Jamhoori Morcha, Punjab, Kirti Mazdoor Union, Punjab, Radical Students Union, Punjab, Lok Sangram Manch, Punjab, Aurat Mukti Manch, Punjab and Pendu Mazdoor Manch, Punjab. Villagers say that the call used to get a tremendous response by the villagers especially of this village years ago but not any more.

Of late, the villagers believe in becoming a part of the election process. With a voter list of 7,500 strong votes in the village, falling in the Faridkot constituency, the villagers had a favourite leader in Mr Jagmeet Brar, sitting MP from Faridkot since he had fought elections as an Independent in 1996. He enjoyed the support of the villagers later also when he joined the Congress. During the last term, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic) had fielded Capt Harcharan Singh Rode, elder brother of Bhindranwale. The latter could garner 7,800 votes only and most of the villagers voted for Mr Brar. The then Sarpanch of the village, Mr Jagdeep Singh had canvassed for the Congress. A power group of the village had even weighed Mr Brar against coins.

A former Jathedar of Akal Takht and nephew of Bhindranwale, Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode, said the Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic) had not fielded any candidate for the Faridkot parliamentary constituency. Hitting hard at the Badal camp, he said the votes of the area residents were on sale since some candidates were distributing money to the voters. In this scenario, he said, they could not afford to field any candidate.

He said the
Dal would paste some posters calling the voters to beware of anti-Panthic forces and ask them not to elect them. He, however, remained silent over the issue of supporting any candidate or party in the constituency.

Capt Harcharan Singh Rode said they would not support the Congress in any way but at the same time they would not campaign for Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, the SAD candidate. He said they would ask the voters to choose the candidate with best of abilities to represent them.

Sant Singh, an elderly man, said the Badal camp was growing stronger in the village as many persons who had supported Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar in last parliamentary elections were unhappy with him for shifting base and not bothering about the people who had supported them. He said the Congress candidate, Ms Karan Brar, would have to pay the price of Mr Brar’s act.

Mr Gurbachan Singh, another elderly man, said half the village would vote for the Congress and the other half for Akalis. He added that they were waiting for both the candidates to come to their village and ask for votes. He said that the villagers used to subscribe to the ideology of Bhindranwale after the 1984 genocide. But not anymore. They want a candidate who would take up their cause in Parliament. The area needed development as none of the leaders had done anything substantial, he added.

Dango (Ludhiana), April 26
Residents of this native village of cine star-turned politician Dharmendra on the
Ludhiana-Pakhowal road are anguished over the attacks on his personal life by rivals in the Bikaner parliamentary elections from where he is contesting on the BJP ticket.

“Dharmendra is a Jat belonging to the Deol caste. Anyone can see the revenue records of this village where he still owns two acres of land, a plot and a dilapidated house where he was born and brought up”, said village Sarpanch Jaspal Singh, an Akali, while scoffing at the claims of the Rajasthan Pradesh Jat Sabha that Dharmendra was a Ramgarhia and not a Jat.

Dharmendra has close association with this district. Born in
Dango, he moved to various places with his father, Mr Kewal Krishan, a government school teacher. He studied in Raikot,
Nasral, Lalton and Sahnewal. He also spent much time in Malerkotla. His mother belonged to Bhanaura village near Kotla. His father had adopted Arya Samaj, hence the name Kewal Krishan.

The villagers would have liked Dharmendra to contest elections from Ludhiana, “Rising above the party lines, we all would have voted and campaigned for him” said Jaspal Singh. He had signed as the village Lambardar on the transfer papers of two-acre land to Dharmendra after the demise of his father.

The land is being tilled by his cousins. Shingara Singh, one of Dharmendra’s cousins, said the cine star did not cut his roots and kept the land here to remain in touch. “He gives VIP treatment to any resident of this village, who goes to meet him in Mumbai”, he said recounting several tales.

“We all are Jats. Anyone can come and see the records. Dharmendra will handle the allegations but if need be we would go there and show the records to voters of Rajasthan”.

Sangrur, April 26
Development, corruption, unemployment and the “feel good” factor are major issues that are dominating the election campaigns of main political parties in the Sangrur parliamentary constituency.

However, these issues are being interpreted differently by the candidates of various parties. In this constituency of high-profile candidates — Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (SAD), Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, (sitting MP and SAD (A) candidate) and Mr Arvind Khanna (Congress) — local issues are almost occupying a back seat.

People of this constituency feel that no major development work has been executed in the Sangrur parliamentary constituency, especially Sangrur district, nothing much has been done to curb the menace of unemployment as no big industry or project has been set up in the Sangrur constituency.

Voters feel that even though the present Congress Government in Punjab made a hue and cry about curbing corruption by launching an “anti-corruption” drive, the government restricted the drive only to SAD leaders or former ministers and did nothing to uproot corruption at the lower level.

With regard to “feel good”, people say they see no “feel good” in their routine life as they have been burdened with taxes by the Centre and the state governments. The BJP’s “feel good” slogan is only on papers but not on the ground.

Dr Surinder Singla, a former state secretary of the Punjab unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said it was unfortunate that Sangrur, despite having been the constituency of various heavyweight political personalities, was still backward in all fields like health, education and industry. Disputing the “feel good” factor, he rather saw a large number of unemployed technocrats like doctors and engineers, Mr Singla said.

Mr Ajaib Singh from Dirba stated that corruption was not a major issue as leaders of various political parties were being found involved in different scams. He saw no “feel good” at the national level.

Mr Manish Jindal, an industrialist from Malerkotla, criticised the “feel good” factor, saying that the Union Government had ruined the Malerkotla industry by hiking the prices of steel and iron time and again. The Malerkotla industrialists did not see “feel good” in their lives.

However, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, (SAD) is banking upon the performance of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre.

Simranjit Singh Mann, SAD (A) candidate seeks votes on the basis of development works executed by him with MP Local Area Development funds during the past more than four years. Mr Arvind Khanna, the Congress candidate, talks about the Punjab Government’s performance on various fronts, including the “anti-corruption” drive and emphasises on the setting up of a big agro-based industrial unit in Sangrur.

HISAR: The last-minute entry of the BJP nominee Raghvanand into the fray has made the fight for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat tougher. The BJP had originally nominated Mr Jaibeer Godara for the seat, but he had to be replaced on the last day of filing nomination papers when it was discovered that his name did not figure in the electoral rolls.

Mr Raghvanand’s presence has belied fond hopes of most of his prominent opponents, including Mr Jai Parkash of the Congress, Mr Surinder Singh Barwala of the Indian National Lok Dal and Mr Kanwal Singh of the Haryana Vikas Party. When the BJP had announced Mr Godara’s name for the seat, the campaign managers of the prominent candidates had hoped to bag sizeable shares of the BJP vote-bank since Mr Godara was considered an extremely weak candidate. This is unlikely to happen now.

Though the BJP nominee is a political non-entity, several factors can help him put up a stiff fight. In the past it has been observed that the Punjabi, Bania and Brahmin voters generally prefer the BJP but if they find its candidate weak, the votes are transferred to the Congress. With Mr Raghvanand as its nominee the BJP may now retain its share of these votes. The BJP nominee being an ascetic and a new face in politics does not face any anti-incumbency problem. Besides, he is a Poonia Jat which community has a sizeable number of votes in the constituency.

There are other factors that help him. Congress nominee Jai Parkash is likely to face opposition within his own party because of several factors. Since he belongs to the Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp, supporters of Mr Bhajan Lal will prefer to see their vote-banks transferred to the BJP nominee since they can neither vote for Mr Jai Parkash nor the INLD nominee. The only choice they are left with is the BJP. Incidentally, Mr Bhajan Lal commands much influence in the area.

Besides, the Bhajan Lal factor, other opponents of Mr Jai Parkash within the Congress will also prefer that their vote-banks are transferred to the BJP because otherwise their votes could go to the parties like the HVP which would weaken their own position at the time of the Assembly poll. Such a situation exists in several Assembly segments.

As for other candidates, Mr Barwala’s attempt to score a hat-trick from this seat is hindered by the anti-incumbency factor. However, he has strong pockets like Narwana to fall back upon. The Narwana Assembly segment is represented by the Chief Minister himself from where the INLD is likely to emerge victorious by a huge margin. Mr Om Parkash Chautala himself is campaigning hard for Mr Barwala.

Mr Kanwal Singh of the HVP is making his presence felt not only in his own party’s bastions but also in other areas. However, despite having begun his campaign early, he still appears to be moving slowly.

Opposition from within notwithstanding, Mr Jai Parkash himself commands much personal influence in the area to offset losses on this count. Over the years he has built bridges with leaders of all communities all over the constituency which is standing him in good stead.

Since both Congress and the BJP announced their candidates at the last minute, campaigning is still to pick up. In the initial stages, the emphasis is on personal contact and excessive reliance on loyalists to influence voters. But the big question is: will the BJP dark horse upset carts?

Bhiwani, April 26
People in this constituency want to teach the ruling party a lesson owing to the anti-incumbency factor. They have no particular complaint against the INLD and, in fact, admit that the INLD Government has done good work such as making concrete roads in villages, constructing school buildings and the like. But a majority of them still want a change. Who will benefit from this mood — Mr Surinder Singh of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) or Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Congress ? Initially, the HVP candidate was clearly the favourite against Mr Ajay Chautala, who represented the constituency in the dissolved Lok Sabha. But the entry of Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi in the fray as the Congress nominee has given the voters another option.

Mr Anand Sharma, who works in a private company, said the Congress had done well by fielding Mr Bishnoi from Bhiwani. He said Mr Bishnoi, being a son of HPCC chief and former Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, would attract a large number of votes which would have otherwise been cast in favour of Mr Surinder Singh had the Congress put up a weak candidate from the constituency.

Mr Bishnoi is contesting from Bhiwani for the first time and this makes him fit in better as a change. Mr Vijendra Singh, a young man of Bawani Khera, said Mr Surinder Singh had represented the constituency earlier also, while his father, Mr Bansi Lal remained the Chief Minister on more than one occasions. “But not much has been done for the constituency by Mr Bansi Lal or his son. May be Mr Bishnoi will do something if he is given a chance”, he said.

Voters are, of course, conscious of the possibility of Mr Bishnoi’s father becoming the next Congress Chief Minister. The Congress candidate himself does not forget to remind the voters about the benefits of electing a potential CM’s son.

The HVP nominee had started his preparations for the Lok Sabha elections from this constituency way before his Congress rival. The Bansi Lal family belongs to Bhiwani and considered well-entrenched in all seven assembly constituencies falling in the district. HVP supporters say that for a majority of the voters, who want a change, the desire is limited to defeating Mr Chautala, INLD nominee and a son of Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala.

In Bhiwani’s notorious “satta” network, Mr Surinder Singh is still considered the frontrunner. Mr Kuldeep Singh, according to an agent, is making gradual progress and his chances of winning have gone up by 45 per cent since he first entered the fray.

In the race for the Bhiwani seat, Mr Ajay Chautala is lagging behind Mr Surinder Singh and Mr Bishnoi. His biggest challenge is the anti-incumbency mood of people. The INLD candidate is claiming to have given jobs to 10,000 aspirants from Bhiwani. As many as 50,000 more will be recruited before the state government headed by his father completes its tenure early next year, Mr Chautala tells the voters.

The BJP candidate from Bhiwani is Mr Rambilas Sharma, a former Education Minister. However, his being in the fray would only cause damage to the Congress nominee.

Kurukshetra, April 26
Mr Naveen Jindal of the Congress is far ahead of his rivals in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency as far as assets are concerned. His worth is over Rs 9 crore. Still he does not own a vehicle. Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, younger son of the Chief Minister and the Indian National Lok Dal candidate, is worth over 5 crore. He owns three vehicles, including a 1994-model Mercedes, the value of which, he says, is Rs 3.5 lakh.

Mr Chautala has a bank balance of over Rs 56 lakh and about Rs 2 lakh cash in hand. His wife, Kanta, has a bank balance of over Rs 34 lakh. His sons, Karan and Arjun, have Rs 1.42 lakh and Rs 1.6 lakh in their bank accounts, respectively.

While Abhay is insured for Rs 42 lakh, his wife has a life insurance policy for Rs 18 lakh. Besides owning over 2 kg of gold, the husband and wife individually have property worth 2.20 crore. He also owns property as a co-sharer in Hindu undivided family (HUF), with his brother Ajay, in Sirsa. He also owns a 420-sq. mtr. house in Nathupur near Gurgaon, which is worth Rs 45 lakh.

His wife and two sons own about 30 kanals of land in Shergarh village. Karan and Arjun also own property worth over Rs 65 lakh in partnership with Dushyant and Digvijay, presumably their cousins.

Mr Khudban of the HVP and his wife, Charanjit Kaur, jointly own property worth about Rs 7 crore. His bank balance is Rs 38 lakh. He owns shares of various companies worth Rs 1.93 crore. His wife also owns shares worth Rs 52 lakh. He has taken an insurance policy for Rs 6.27 lakh while his wife has a policy for Rs 5.47 lakh. They both have jewellery worth about Rs 13 lakh. Their joint and separate property is a house in Chandigarh, 40 acre agricultural land in Ban village and a plot in Ladwa. His children, Daljit and Jadeep, own shares worth Rs 38 lakh.

Mr Saini of the BJP, along with his family, owns property worth Rs 1.78 crore. He has taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh from a cooperative bank.

Factors at PlayPeace with Pak means a lot hereVimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), April 26
Thanks to his peace initiative with Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seems to be enjoying goodwill among the people living in border areas. For the people living in the interiors and urban areas, Indo-Pak peace may be more of academic interest, but for the border people, it is the issue of life and death, literally.

Cutting across religious and caste affiliations, people along the border belt of the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency maintain that they have been living a relieved and peaceful life for the past two years. “Ask us what confrontation with Pakistan means....It is we who get uprooted anytime there is tension,” said Jagroop Singh, a local resident. He points out that war is always too far for people living in safe environs of cities and they are only apprehensive about it. But the border residents have to live the ordeal even if there is a slight tension between the two countries. Every time there is tension, they have to seek shelter away from their homes. In the process, they suffer huge losses to the life and property.

The villagers give credit for peace to the Prime Minister only. They point out that it was Mr Vajpayee who took the initiative of resolving the disputes with Pakistan despite the failure of the Lahore Mission and Agra Summit.

But will they (the residents of the borders villages) vote for Mr Vajpayee? Nobody was prepared to give a straight answer. Karam Chand, a Dalit of Bhamyal village said, rather ambiguously, people want peace and they will support anyone who guarantees them long-term peace.

There are long-term advantages that peace can bring in. Even after Partition, a train used to go across the border to Kartarpur Sahib and people would visit the gurdwaras there quite conveniently. However, after the 1965 war with Pakistan, the railway bridge was destroyed and there has been no attempt to reconstruct it. The locals feel that if there is a possibility of the starting Srinagar-Muzffarabad road, why there cannot be a train between Amritsar and Sialkot, which will pass through Dera Baba Nanak, as it used to operate before 1965. Most of the people living in the villages along the International Border with Pakistan feel that they would be happy even if the situation continued like this. Much to their relief, there has been no firing and no shelling during the past two years. Mr Ramesh Singh of Bhawalpur village hopes the situation does not prove to be a shortlived dream.

Factors at PlayWater is a crucial issueRuchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Hanumangarh, April 26
Battle-lines are drawn between the outgoing Member of Parliament and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, Mr Nihal Chand Meghwal, and the Congress candidate, Master Bharat Ram Meghwal, in Sriganganagar.

The divide in the Assembly segments falling under Hanumangarh district and those in Sriganganagar district is an important election issue. Of the 13.40 lakh voters of this constituency, 8.90 lakh voters are from the five Assembly seats of Hanumangarh – Hanumangarh, Tibbi, Nohar, Bhadra and part of angria. The remaining 4.50 lakh electorate is from the Sriganganagar, Karanpur and Kesrisinghpur segments. So, the voters of Hanumangarh district will be the deciding factor in this reserved constituency.

A majority of voters in the five Assembly segments of this district feel that the outgoing MP, Mr Nihal Chand, has devoted much of his time and MPLAD Fund in Sriganganagar district. They say that farmers along the Indo-Pak border got compensation for their fields, which had been temporarily taken over by the Army during the tension along the border in 2002, because of the efforts of Mr Nihal Chand. The long-standing problem of waterlogging in the Rawatsar area in Tibbi was also solved by the BJP candidate, they add.

However, they rue that he rarely visited Hanumangarh, and concentrated his resources in Sriganganagar.

Now, with the Congress having fielded a resident of Hanumangarh, Master Bharat Ram Meghwal as their candidate, the BJP has been put on the defensive. The candidate is doing aggressive campaigning in this district. The fact that Master Bharat Ram is little known in the constituency (he runs a private primary school in Tibbi and is a grassroot-level Congress worker), goes in Mr Nihal Chand’s favour, who has just completed his second term as MP.

The BJP had a comfortable win in the Vidhan Sabha elections held recently. It won five seats – Sriganganagar, Karanpur, Kesrisinghpur, Tibbi and Sangria — by margins of over one lakh votes. Though the BJP MLAs from these constituencies are closing ranks behind Mr Nihal Chand, it will be an uphill task for the outgoing MP.

The way that the Scheduled Caste votes (about four lakh, and mainly from among the Meghwals) sway will decide the electoral fate of the two candidates, both from the Meghwal community. The Punjabi votes comprising both Sikhs and Aroras (about three lakh, and mostly in Sriganganagar district) will also play an important role.

Water availability for irrigation in the predominantly agricultural economy of the constituency is also emerging as an important issue. Mr Vijay Singh, a farmer from Mirzewala village in
Sriganganagar district, says that they get water in the Gang canal just once in three weeks. “I have to begin sowing of cotton crop, but since there is no water, I will not be able to utilise my entire landholding of 100 bighas for growing cotton.” Agrees Kirpal Singh of GajSinghpur, “We suffered the worst ever drought for four years, 1999 to 2002. Last year, we did not sow the crop, thinking that there would be no rains. But the rains were good, and we lost the chance of a good harvest. This year, there is no water, and we cannot begin sowing of the crop. We would rather vote for a candidate, who is from a party that has the maximum chance of forming the government at the Centre, so that he can mediate on our behalf with the Centre over inter state issues like releasing of waters.”

Kulu, April 26
Even though the day of voting is drawing nearer, residents of this district are not enthusiastic campaigning by both main parties — the Congress and the BJP — is at a very low note. The war of posters, banners and flags, which used to be the highlight during every election in the Kulu and Banjar Assembly segments of the Mandi parliamentary constituency is yet to take off. Most voters said: “We feel political leaders befool people in every election by promising the sky but forget everything after the polling day. A group of youngster said, “We are victims of regional discrimination is both BJP and Congress governments. They alleged no worthwhile development had taken place after the exit of previous BJP/HVC Government in this district.

In the Mandi constituency Chief Minister’s wife, Pratibha Singh, is pitted against sitting M.P. Maheshwar Singh of the BJP. Mr Maheshwar Singh is banking upon the Vajpayee factor as the Prime Minister has a home here.

Shirking poll duty lands 9 in troubleTIRUPATI: Chittoor District Collector and District Election Officer A Giridhar has ordered the arrest of nine government servants for staying away from poll duty. The nine employees, including a Divisional Engineer and two bank officials, did not report for election-related duty for the second phase of polling in Andhra Pradesh on April 26. The Collector issued the arrest order on Saturday evening. Five college Lecturers and a high school Headmaster were among the nine to be arrested, according to official sources here.
— UNI

Toll-free helplineCHANDIGARH: The Punjab Chief Electoral Office has set up a helpline to help the electorate locate their polling station on May 10. Chief Electoral Officer G.S. Cheema said the facility could be accessed by dialling a toll-free number 1600121011.
— UNI